Apple Device Management for Beginners

If you're diving into Apple device management for the first time, let this comprehensive guide explain the basics so you can help your organization or school get the most out of its technology initiative.

Delivering the healthcare experience we all deserve

No one likes being a patient admitted to the hospital. You’re not feeling well to begin with, surrounded by unfamiliar sights, and the sound of alerts and alarms seems to never end. Sleep is hard to come by, as members of your care team run lab tests and administer medications through the night. If any of these medications affect your cognitive function, that adds another layer of haze to the entire experience.

I can personally attest to the statement above. In 2015, I had a major surgery that resulted in an eight day stay in the hospital. While I have nothing but great things to say about my care team, and the dozens of friends and family members who visited me, it was still a challenging experience to get through.

As a total Apple nerd, I planned to bring my iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch with me to the hospital. Some advised me against it, however, I knew that these devices would be key to a better experience as a patient. I had access to my patient portal at all times and was able to get test results faster than the care team could relay in person. I was able to watch all of my own TV shows, listen to my music choices, and even track my steps and activity progress day-by-day on my Apple Watch. Each day, I pushed myself to do more, and had hard data to validate my progress.

This may all sound great, but we obviously can’t expect that each patient would come equipped with all this technology. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way for the hospital to provide this technology experience to everyone?

By leveraging Apple hardware and Jamf software, this level of care can be available to everyone — today.

iPad and Apple TV in every room

Jamf Pro is the perfect solution to deliver a patient bedside initiative with iPad and Apple TV. Jamf Healthcare Listener — the electronic medical record (EMR) integration in Jamf Pro — automates device management workflows for each patient, while remaining hands-free for care and IT teams. This is all done over the air, no tethered workflow required.

Consider this as a new patient; you’re admitted to your room and you’re greeted by an iPad and Apple TV. The hospital’s IT staff has already leveraged Jamf Pro to deploy amazing iOS and tvOS apps to your room’s devices. You now have access to EMR apps like Epic MyChart Bedside to stay connected and engaged with your treatment, Room Control apps like Crestron to remain as comfortable as possible, and entertainment apps like Hulu, Facebook and Netflix to relax and take a mental break from your surroundings.

Once you are ready to be discharged, you simply leave the devices where you found them and the Jamf Healthcare Listener goes to work.

The Healthcare Listener receives an admissions, discharge and transfers (ADT) message from your EMR, and automatically triggers a remote wipe command in Jamf Pro to digitally sterilize the device and ready it for the next patient.

Hear how UC San Diego Health is already putting these workflows to use.

Better hospital staff experience

Jamf Pro’s tight integration with Apple deployment programs make 1-to-1 iPhone and iPad initiatives for staff a breeze. A doctor can simply open the box, power on the device, and that’s it — there is no step three! All configuration work has been done by IT without the user needing to do a thing. For damaged or lost devices, simply ship the user a replacement, setting up in the same manner as the initial device.

For situations where a 1-to-1 Apple device program isn’t possible, Jamf offers two patent-pending apps — Jamf Setup and Jamf Reset — to power shared iPad usage in any environment.

With Jamf Setup, IT supplies a list of role-based profiles (like nurse, doctor or reception) and users select the appropriate configuration for their role. No IT interaction or login credentials required. Once selected, the appropriate settings, apps and resources are automatically displayed.

Once the device has been used, the next step is to reset it for the following user. Jamf Reset allows the user to initiate a wipe of the device on their own. Once the device is wiped, it is ready to be “setup” and redeployed to the next user.

Healthcare apps and hospital networks

Arguably the most important part of the puzzle is identifying those iOS apps to streamline clinical communication and workflow. Jamf Pro can pre-configure EMR apps for iOS (Epic, Cerner, Allscripts, etc.) and clinical communication apps (Voalte, PatientSafe, Mobile Heartbeat) before the apps ever reach the device. With Apple’s Managed App Config framework, Jamf Pro can prevent manual (on-device) app configuration for both care teams and IT.

Another key component of the solution is a hospital’s network. Jamf integrates with a number of Cisco services and can manage native Apple + Cisco features like fast lane (app-based QoS marking), Cisco Security Connector, Cisco ICE and more.

Jamf partners and integrations

Jamf Marketplace is the one-stop destination to find apps, integrations and consultants that help you get the most out of Jamf Pro. Explore first and third-party integrations with other purpose-built systems and services to drive automated workflow efficiencies, including healthcare-grade iOS cases and mounts to enhance clinician and IT experience.